President Putin Warns US of Cold War Missile Crisis

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the United States on Sunday that if Washington deployed long-range missiles to Germany, Russia would deploy similar missiles within range of Western countries.

The United States announced on 7/10 that it will begin deploying long-range missiles to Germany from 2026 in preparation for long-term deployments including SM-6, Tomahawk cruise missiles, and development-type hypersonic weapons.

In a speech in front of Russian, Chinese, Algerian, and Indian sailors, held to commemorate Russian Navy Day held in St. Petersburg, the capital of the former empire, Putin warned America that there was a risk that this move would cause a missile crisis like the Cold War era.

“Such missiles may carry nuclear warheads in the future, and the flight time to targets within our territory is approximately 10 minutes.

Putin said, “We will take mirror-like measures for deployment while taking into account the actions of America and satellites in Europe and other regions of the world.”

Putin, who sent troops to Ukraine in 2022, positions this war as part of a historic struggle with Western countries. Western countries say they humiliated Russia by invading Moscow's sphere of influence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Ukraine and Western countries say Putin is engaged in imperial-style land expropriation. Russia currently controls about 18% of Ukraine, including Crimea, and parts of four regions in eastern Ukraine.

Russia says that these lands, which were once part of the Russian Empire, are now once again part of Russia and will never be returned.

cold war?

Russian and American diplomats say their diplomatic relations are worse than they were during the 1962 Cuban crisis, and both Moscow and Washington are urging non-escalation, but both are taking steps towards escalation.

Putin stated that America had fueled tension and transferred the Typhon missile system to Denmark and the Philippines, and compared the US plan to NATO's decision to deploy Pershing II launchers in Western Europe in 1979.

Soviet leaders, including General Secretary Yuri Andropov, feared that the Pershing II deployment was part of a detailed plan led by America to eliminate Soviet political and military leadership and cut off the Soviet Union.

“This situation reminds me of America's medium-range missiles, Pershings, being deployed in Europe during the Cold War,” Putin said.

The Pershing II was designed to change the yield of nuclear warheads and was deployed to West Germany in 1983.

In 1983, the sick-bed Andropov and the KGB interpreted America's series of movements, including the deployment of Pershing II and large-scale NATO exercises, as signs that Western countries were about to launch a preemptive strike against the Soviet Union.

Putin repeated his earlier warning that after the US has deployed similar missiles in Europe and Asia, Russia will resume production of medium- and short-range nuclear missiles and may consider deployment destinations.